'Personalities. 'Iràq (Exclusive of Baghdad and Kàdhimain), 1919' [‎57v] (119/318)

50
HUSAIN AL SHAR'AH. . , u
The officially recognised Shi'ah 'Alim of Diwamyah. Has considerable influence.
Professes to be progressive, but is in reality prehistoric in his views. Is nevertheless
very helpful.
‘IBADI AL HUSAIN.
Rais of the branch of the Fatlah settled on the Shamiyah channel and owner of the
prosperous village of Muhannawiyah. Shamiyah division. Extremely wealthy and a
man of peace. A good cultivator, given to flattery, but loyal Previously had a feud
with the Kurd and Khaza il, as a result of which sanguinary battles took place till the
British occupation.
IBRAHIM, SAIYID.
A Sunni member of the Hillah Majlis picturesque old man with a crafty sense of
humour. His ideas of truth are congenitally vague.
IBRAHIM, SAIYID.
A noted Mulla of Shatrah. Toured perpetually among the Azairij and Khafajah
preaching the Jihad.
IBRAHIM, SAIYID.
Farmer of Rumaili ‘Ubaijah Muqata'ah between Majar al Kabir and Majar al Saghir.
He comes of a highly respectable family of Saiyids who for many generations held both
Rumaili ‘Ubaijah and Jawwar. The former was much neglected during the prolonged
fighting between Saihud ibn Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. of the Albu Muhammed and Ghadhban al Bunaiyah
of the Bani Lam. Saiyid Ibrahim is now reduced to great poverty and has few Fallahin Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour. .
These last are all Bahadil or Saiyids. He has a dispute about land with Hatim ibn Saihud
of Jawwar. He holds the Tapu lands on the Tigris right bank alongside his present
Muqata'ah.
A man of 55. Has been useful and straightforward in deciding disputes between
shaikhs.
IBRAHIM IBN ‘ABDULLAH AL RASHID.
Shaikh of Zubair. The Al Rashid are of ‘Anizah stock and came originally from
Huraimlah in the ‘Aridh, but they have been settled in Zubair for 200 years. Ibrahim
was a connection of Khalid al ‘Aun of Al Hirfi, Shaikh of Zubair, who was murdered in
1907 by Ibrahim’s brother Ahmad and his negroes. Muhammad Beg al Mushri was
appointed Shaikh by the Turks, but with a very limited authority. Zubair continued,
however, to be for all practical purposes independent. A Mudir represented the interests
of the Ottoman Government, but the town was exempt from conscription. Muhammad
al Mushri was in intimate relations with ‘Ajaimi al Sa'dun and was turned out by us just
before the battle of Shu'aibah. Ibrahim was installed in his place as a relation of the old
ruling family. (The Hirfi and the Rashid had long been at enmity, and a famous battle
was fought between them some 40 years ago.) In recognition of his loyal services,
Ibrahim has been given the farming rights over the valuable estate formerly belonging
to Ghalib al ‘Umar on the left bank of the Shatt al ‘Arab and is warmly pro-British.
Aet. 47 in 1916, intelligent, pleasant-mannered, has loyally accepted the conditions of
the blockade and furnishes the C.P.O. with news of the desert. Is an exceedingly
businesslike and shrewd person to deal with and has filled his part as Shaikh of Zubair
in difficult situations with invariable tact and astuteness. Small in stature, he is not
a commanding personality but enjoys respect, if not popularity. There is a good deal
of jealousy between him and Ibn Suwait. ‘Abdul Latif Mandil [q.v.) is hostile to him.
He has his town in excellent control. As a Najdi he has a hearty contempt for the Muntafiq,
and as a townsman he professes to despise the wildness of the Beduin. He reckons himself
among the Mutamaddinin, i.e., civilised, and would do his best to forward the cause of
economic progress, so long as he was not called on to expend money from his own pocket.
His opinion on Arabs is generally of great value. He executes admirably any commission
entrusted to him, so long as he is given clear and precise instructions, and where price is
no object., Reads and writes his own tongue. He rejoices in entertaining English ojfhcers.
He would, however, much like to preserve his independent position as the shaikh of the
desert oasis, which will be impossible under modern conditions.
IBRAHIM rABDUL RAZZAQ.
Sunni member of the Hillah Majlis—generally out of Hillah. Well educated man—
apparently of nice disposition and agreeable.